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Religious Pluralism and Interfaith Dialogue “Some Thoughts”
Most of us in our "hurry up and wait" lives search for an easy answer to life’s problems. We usually want a checklist that we can follow that will guarantee our success in any endeavor whether it is in our relationships with others or in our seeking of transcendence. We want something that works all of the time and under every circumstance. We want something concrete and factual yet it allows for growth and change even transcendence and revelation for others and ourselves.
In life, there is no cookie cutter answer to life's problems other than life itself. The mystery of "Life" explains itself many ways and all of them can be right. We can have a "one way" mentality and still be open-minded without being empty headed. For open mindedness to occur we must know ourselves first, we must know "what, how and why" we see things as we see them.
The Study of Interfaith Dialogue
I have to say this of myself and for others that we can look at religion as students and simply codify, classify and relegate the ideas into simple understandable terms to remember and recite, however it does no one any good except to pass a test in a class. People need to have a sense of confidence in their beliefs and in their own self that they can actually have a dialogue with others who have beliefs that truly differ from their own without fearing a loss of their self-identity.
It is obvious that even in this setting of online instruction that many people have taken the concepts, they have newly learned from other religions, Buddhism and Christianity for one example and have come up with new ideas for a new mythos and it has even affected their logos or their view on how to behave or act. The people of Israel posed the question of "How they will then live?" to the prophet Ezekiel when told to change their ways. We naturally ask that question whenever we see alternatives that extend beyond our own narrow scope of life.
I am a born again Christian and truly ensconced in my belief that all in this present time period who wish to enter heaven need to do so through Jesus Christ. However, I cannot allow that to affect my behavior to make it so that my words, my demeanor, or my actions are such that they portray disrespect for those that believe differently from me. I know that I am of a certain conviction and I know that because of that knowledge of my condition I can keep myself from a discriminatory attitude and behavior that will make me an obnoxious pest at best and a fundamentalist dictator at worst. I want neither for my life nor for the lives of those whom I am connected to in any manner.
Thus, I must speak out against such things and point out that there is a way to have your spiritual beliefs what ever they may be or may become and remain humane and show loving kindness to all people everywhere. I have found that people who act in a surreptitious or manipulative way in a society are often expressing a basic human dilemma that stands unmet, unfulfilled or not recognized. It is my intent to make my agenda clear, compassionate and worthy of full use. Keeping this in mind, that if the world existed in perfect clarity there would be no need for stories, art, mythos, or religions. In each cosmology or cosmogony the one least deceptive is the one that is actually lived. No laws can be made against truth, love, joy or any such good thing.
When we look at the belief systems, it becomes clear it is their apparent shared paradoxes and contradictions that bring about their classification; each has a symbiosis. The Totalitarian Absolutist does not use totalitarianism to base their values on; they base them on the misperceptions of the Liberal; the Charismatic Mystic's values on that of the untenable dogma of the Orthodox; the Militant Fundamentalist on the inflexible orthopraxy of the Absolutist. Integrity needs no rules or values. It is a principle and principles unlike our religious politics, stand-alone being self-sufficient.
Overly justified by the monistic as inherent and equally disqualified by the monotheist as ineffable. When the meaning of life seems hidden, even suppressed, you know it is still there. You are the proof it is still there, for you are alive and that in itself carries the “holy grail,” the hope, the essence of the search. It is the lock opening as the Key turns.
We each have a right to believe that the truth when written of with a capital letter is still of a relative nature as opposed to an absolute. Nevertheless, as Winston Churchill pointed out that degradation of truth does not change the facts. Whosoever purposefully uses words to confuse others to gain an unfair advantage is showing their intent to allow tyranny to exist. The study of religion is the study of the hearts of others, where you come to know them intimately. Humans can disagree without being disagreeable and we can agree without losing who we are or being untrue to ourselves. It is my hope for each of you that your dialogue with others who see differently from you is that it enriches your life and theirs.
All contents copyright 2006 Frank Mueller, MSM
